Entre les Bras (Step Up to the Plate) by Paul Lacoste (review)

Dans l’un et l’autre cas, l’être aimé s’avère cruellement égoïste et incapable de rendre pleinement l’affection passionnelle dont il est l’objet: le dahlia que Sidonie passe des heures à broder amoureusement pour la reine est attribué à une autre cousette et rétribué en argent et non en affection. Quant à Madame de Polignac, elle est trop heureuse de s’enfuir loin de la reine lorsque la première occasion se présente. De cette éducation sentimentale, Sidonie sort moralement anoblie. Lorsque Marie-Antoinette lui demande d’échanger ses vêtements avec ceux de Madame de Polignac afin de protéger la fuite de celle-ci, Sidonie acquiert une authentique noblesse morale, révélant à la fois son propre aveuglement et la cruauté de la maîtresse qui la sacrifie. En route vers une destination inconnue, Sidonie confesse en voix off que, loin de la reine, elle ne sera bientôt plus rien. Nouvelle liberté et disponibilité à d’autres attachements, à d’autres identifications, ou bien ultime effacement dans le don de soi? C’est au spectateur de décider. L’histoire rattrape la fiction par le biais d’un carton présent dans la version cinéma originale et signalant (ironiquement?) que Madame de Polignac a survécu à la reine mais qu’elle serait morte de chagrin suite à sa défection. Aucun post-scriptum ne précise le sort de l’humble lectrice, dont la vie et le sacrifice sombrent inexorablement dans l’oubli. Meredith College (NC) Véronique Machelidon LACOSTE, PAUL, réal. Entre les Bras (Step Up to the Plate). Int. Michel Bras, Sébastien Bras. Everybody on Deck, 2012. In 2003 Bernard Loiseau, a chef, committed suicide at the age of fifty-two, after rumors that his restaurant might lose one of its three Michelin stars. Remembering that tragic story and considering that we have elevated chefs to rock-star status in the United States, I was not quite sure what to expect from a documentary about a three-star Michelin chef. Would Michel Bras be a temperamental egomaniac? Would he spend his time berating the wait staff in his restaurant or slamming pots and pans? Or would he be riddled with self-doubt? Or worse yet, would he have no confidence whatsoever in his son and heir-apparent, Sébastien, and belittle him? Bras, père et fils, have a restaurant and hotel in Laguiole, in the Aveyron department in southern France, built on a hill with a breathtaking view of the valley (www.bras.fr). Michel Bras is undoubtedly a perfectionist, as the viewer quickly finds out by watching him choose vegetables, herbs, and flowers for the restaurant. His ties to the land where he has spent his entire life seem to be as deep as his family ties. Michel is a slight, serious man, a runner, with round wire-rimmed glasses who looks more like a university professor than a chef. He is, however, quite an entrepreneur and has built an empire based upon his expertise in the kitchen. Food is the Bras family business. Michel’s mother ran a restaurant and he followed her, taking over and earning Michelin stars. He decided to build his current showpiece several years ago, secure in the knowledge that Sébastien would stay with him in the endeavor. The premise of the movie is that Michel is ready to retire and hand over the reins to Séba, as he calls his son. The film reveals the emotions of Sébastien and the idea of family duty. There never seemed to be a question of what his life’s work would be. The photos of him at a very young age Reviews 1249 in a chef’s coat and toque made for him by his grandmother foreshadow his destiny. But is it easier to start from scratch, as Michel did, or to inherit an empire and try to stay on top? Entre les Bras is divided into seasons, a fitting and logical setting for a film about food and life. The story comes full circle, in the course of a year, from spring to spring, showing four generations of family interact with...